A Non-Nebraskan Wants to Know What Exactly IS a Cornhusker?

Iowans were recently asked what is a Hawkeye? That got me thinking and sometimes that's not good.  Most of the time that's not good.  If some Iowans identify as Hawkeyes do people from Nebraska do the same thing?  What IS a Cornhusker and do Nebraskans identify as Cornhuskers?  The reason I asked is Nebraska Fans weren't always known as the 'Cornhuskers'.  The team has had some, we'll call them, 'other' nicknames that some have chosen to steer clear of.  I say, embrace history and shine light on whatever you think might need to remain in the dark.  In this case, it might help get rid of some of the bugs.

What Exactly IS a Cornhusker?

The term "cornhusker" comes from the method of harvesting corn by hand, which was common before the invention of husking machinery.

This Might Bug You

Many moons ago, roughly the 1890's says the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska football players were called the Bugeaters.  It came from the state's numerous bull bats called bug-eaters because they DO!  Bats eat bugs, it's in their nature to do this.  The name also kinda stuck because of the poverty-stricken appearance of many parts of the state.  Here's the thing they had much better names before that and I would have stuck with one of those.  You had, The Tree Planters, not great but there are more, The Old Gold Knights, and even the Rattlesnake Boys but they went with Bugeaters? That lasted until right around 1900.

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The Term Cornhusker in Sports Started in a Negative Way

The word Cornhusker was used in a school newspaper in 1893, and it was meant as a derogatory term to refer to Iowa.  A sportswriter by the name of Charles S. 'Cy' Sherman liked the term and was tired of the team's previous nickname 'Bugeaters'.  It only took 7 years of using the name for it to catch on and by 1907, the name was accepted.  Do you think the 'Bugeaters' could make a comeback?